Advanced Logic Research (ALR; Irvine, CA)

The PC market of the 1980s was awash in assembled clones, systems built with off-the-shelf parts to sell as cheaply as possible. ALR was one of the few exceptions as it designed its own systems to achieve the best performance possible.

ALR’s business strategy was to be the first to market with the latest and fastest possible PC-compatible designs. It often succeeded, and in July 1986 the Access 386 was the first 80386-based PC AT compatible sold, beating even IBM. In November, ALR upgraded the Access 386 to support the 80386’s virtual 86 mode, which allowed for multitasking of MS-DOS applications. The Access 386 came in three models.

The base Access 386, the Access 386-40, and the Access 386-80. ALR also offered a multiuser version called the Network 386, which came as a tower system. Despite being a milestone computer, the Access 386 has little recognition as a collectible.

The Network 386 was the file server for ALR’s preconfigured network offerings, the ALRnet series. It came in 8- and 4-user configurations.

Nearly a year later, ALR introduced the 386/2, touted as the first second-generation 386-based system. It featured faster hard disk controller and more base memory. The 396/2 was followed shortly by the 386/220, a 20MHz version of the system.

1988 saw the introduction of ALR’s first MicroChannel-based system. In keeping with ALR’s image as a performance leader, the MicroFlex 7000 featured a 128-bit bus design that may have been the first on an 80386 system.

Also announced in 1988 was ALR’s VIP series of small-footprint PCs, available with either a 80386SX, 80386, or 80286 CPU. The lower-end models were upgradeable to faster CPUs by simply plugging in a new CPU. The unusual form factor was only 4.5 inches wide and 15 inches deep.

In the early 1990s, ALR introduced its family of multimedia PCs, the Flyer and Evolution MPC series.